Cell-allocation in location-selective information provision systems

Abstract

Systems and methods for allocating cells within a virtual grid to content providers according to various priority and selection schemes are used to target content delivery to information playback devices in a geographically and/or application selective manner. The priority schemes, geographical selectivity, and application selectivity of the system and methods of the invention allow a content provider to specifically target a desired demographic with high cost efficiency and flexibility.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising the steps of:
 dividing, by a server, a geographical area into a virtual grid comprising a plurality of cells; 
 accepting, by the server, bids for a cell within the plurality of cells from at least a first content provider and a second content provider; 
 determining, by the server, which content provider has submitted the winning bid for the cell; 
 obtaining, by the server, content submitted from the content provider submitting a winning bid for the cell; and 
 transmitting, by the server, at least a portion of the obtained content to an information playback device located in the cell. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information playback device comprises a plurality of different applications, the content comprises a plurality of different advertisements, and the method further comprises selecting one of the different advertisements based on the particular application running on the information playback device, and transmitting the selected advertisement to the information playback device. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cells of the plurality of cells each have about the same dimensions. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are defined by longitude and latitude. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are hexagonal in shape. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are square in shape. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cells of the plurality of cells are each defined by population size. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the bids for the cell are for a time slot during which the portion of the obtained content is transmitted to an information playback device located in the cell. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining which content provider has submitted the winning bid for the cell comprises using a bidding algorithm that uses a quantity correlated with demographic information of a certain cell within the plurality of cells. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the quantity correlated with demographic information of the certain cell is income per capita. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the quantity correlated with demographic information of the certain cell is population density.